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  3. Am I the only one who thinks social media has destroyed the spirit of the internet?

Am I the only one who thinks social media has destroyed the spirit of the internet?

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  • C [email protected]

    Whenever I get overwhelmed by the modern web, I go to http://wiby.me/ and click "surprise me..."

    It's a search engine that only spits out "real" webpages that were made by people like you and me. Very refreshing.

    tigeruppercut@lemmy.zipT This user is from outside of this forum
    tigeruppercut@lemmy.zipT This user is from outside of this forum
    [email protected]
    wrote last edited by
    #61

    I also like zombocom

    https://zombo.com/

    jacksonlamb@lemmy.worldJ anzo@programming.devA 2 Replies Last reply
    4
    • C [email protected]

      Whenever I get overwhelmed by the modern web, I go to http://wiby.me/ and click "surprise me..."

      It's a search engine that only spits out "real" webpages that were made by people like you and me. Very refreshing.

      P This user is from outside of this forum
      P This user is from outside of this forum
      [email protected]
      wrote last edited by
      #62

      Cool table!

      tigeruppercut@lemmy.zipT 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

        The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

        It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

        I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

        kolanaki@pawb.socialK This user is from outside of this forum
        kolanaki@pawb.socialK This user is from outside of this forum
        [email protected]
        wrote last edited by
        #63

        I don't blame social media at all. The Internet was, and still is, a communications platform. Some form of "social media" has always existed on the internet even if they were not called that back then.

        I blame doing shit for the sole purpose of making money to be what has fucked up the internet. At least it's only fucked on the surface. The real Internet still exists, it's just not right out in the open where any random normie can find it.

        1 Reply Last reply
        4
        • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

          The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

          It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

          I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

          C This user is from outside of this forum
          C This user is from outside of this forum
          [email protected]
          wrote last edited by [email protected]
          #64

          I fucking hate anyone on the internet who starts with "am I the only one..." Its so tired, lazy, lacks creativity, and has a touch of narcissism or inability to be self-aware.

          But this!

          Holy shit. For anyone to truly think they are the only ones to have considered social media to be such a bad thing with 7-8 billion of us and social media for 20 fucking years.

          Absolute garbage. Get a mirror and do some reflection OP. Holy fucking shit.

          And for the record.... NOBODY is the only one for anything. Pick a different I tro for once. Holy god damned shit.

          I can only hope some twatwaffle responds to me merely saying "This."

          D K 2 Replies Last reply
          2
          • W [email protected]

            If I had a lot of money I would fund the creation of a new search engine. It would operate entirely on a white list model. And every website on it would be reviewed by people, for people. No posts from any social media site would be allowed; only small webpages. To be featured in the engine, sites would have to have verifiable human origins. So personal blogs made by real people or small businesses with actual physical addresses that can be fully verified in the real world. In order to get your business featured, you would have to apply, and someone would physically have to visit you in order to verify your authenticity. Oh, and any website that uses AI in any form would simply be ineligible to appear on the search engine.

            Yes, this would result in a drastically reduced pool of potential sites, but what remains would be absolute gold.

            R This user is from outside of this forum
            R This user is from outside of this forum
            [email protected]
            wrote last edited by
            #65

            I love the idea, but wouldn't it be one of those old web indices (like a site or book that was just a list of other sites) with a keyword search function? Like a centralized webring with user submissions?

            W 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

              The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

              It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

              I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

              A This user is from outside of this forum
              A This user is from outside of this forum
              [email protected]
              wrote last edited by
              #66

              Throughout history, every village had one idiot, two max. And maybe one psycho.

              Today thanks to the power of the internet these idiots and those psychos can unite and create big communities and represent a strong unified force in the world.

              1 Reply Last reply
              3
              • F [email protected]

                Came here to say exactly this. Capitalism breeds consumerism - and consumerism destroys everything.

                S This user is from outside of this forum
                S This user is from outside of this forum
                [email protected]
                wrote last edited by
                #67

                I predicted back in 2000 that the net would become a big complex system of cable channels, you pay for every site you visit. It's sure AF going that way.

                Something wonderful is gone forever. Thanks America.

                1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • R [email protected]

                  I love the idea, but wouldn't it be one of those old web indices (like a site or book that was just a list of other sites) with a keyword search function? Like a centralized webring with user submissions?

                  W This user is from outside of this forum
                  W This user is from outside of this forum
                  [email protected]
                  wrote last edited by
                  #68

                  Yeah, I'm basically envisioning something like that. An old school web index composed entirely of human-curated human-made content. How to actually fund such an effort? I have no idea. That's why I started with the the premise that I somehow had millions to throw at the project. It would invariably be very labor intensive.

                  It would probably have to be subscription funded. Maybe there's a way to pull it off, but getting people to pay for subscriptions for services like this has long been fraught. Surveillance capitalism was built because donations don't cut it, and no one wanted to spend a few bucks a month for Google or Facebook access.

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • C [email protected]

                    Whenever I get overwhelmed by the modern web, I go to http://wiby.me/ and click "surprise me..."

                    It's a search engine that only spits out "real" webpages that were made by people like you and me. Very refreshing.

                    S This user is from outside of this forum
                    S This user is from outside of this forum
                    [email protected]
                    wrote last edited by
                    #69

                    Saved, thanks for sharing. I just learned how geologists date rocks 😎

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • C [email protected]

                      I fucking hate anyone on the internet who starts with "am I the only one..." Its so tired, lazy, lacks creativity, and has a touch of narcissism or inability to be self-aware.

                      But this!

                      Holy shit. For anyone to truly think they are the only ones to have considered social media to be such a bad thing with 7-8 billion of us and social media for 20 fucking years.

                      Absolute garbage. Get a mirror and do some reflection OP. Holy fucking shit.

                      And for the record.... NOBODY is the only one for anything. Pick a different I tro for once. Holy god damned shit.

                      I can only hope some twatwaffle responds to me merely saying "This."

                      D This user is from outside of this forum
                      D This user is from outside of this forum
                      [email protected]
                      wrote last edited by
                      #70

                      You feeling ok buddy?

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      3
                      • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zipT [email protected]

                        I also like zombocom

                        https://zombo.com/

                        jacksonlamb@lemmy.worldJ This user is from outside of this forum
                        jacksonlamb@lemmy.worldJ This user is from outside of this forum
                        [email protected]
                        wrote last edited by
                        #71

                        Whoever it is that has kept zombo going for most of my adult life deserves a medal.

                        tigeruppercut@lemmy.zipT 1 Reply Last reply
                        1
                        • jacksonlamb@lemmy.worldJ [email protected]

                          Whoever it is that has kept zombo going for most of my adult life deserves a medal.

                          tigeruppercut@lemmy.zipT This user is from outside of this forum
                          tigeruppercut@lemmy.zipT This user is from outside of this forum
                          [email protected]
                          wrote last edited by
                          #72

                          You can do ANYthing!

                          jacksonlamb@lemmy.worldJ 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • P [email protected]

                            Cool table!

                            tigeruppercut@lemmy.zipT This user is from outside of this forum
                            tigeruppercut@lemmy.zipT This user is from outside of this forum
                            [email protected]
                            wrote last edited by
                            #73

                            3rd one is obsolete now and has been replaced with affection

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

                              The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

                              It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

                              I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

                              almacca@aussie.zoneA This user is from outside of this forum
                              almacca@aussie.zoneA This user is from outside of this forum
                              [email protected]
                              wrote last edited by
                              #74

                              Social media is a great idea, honestly. What's ruined it is the same thing that ruins everything - money men.

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              4
                              • gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.deG [email protected]

                                Most people aren't made for the internet.

                                Most people can't handle the type of information. Most people fall for rage-bait, hate-inducing, right-wing propaganda.

                                We need to find a way to make the internet a thing where there's only people on it who actually want to use the internet in a healthy way.

                                One way to do this is to say no to commercialized parts of the internet. Say no to all commercial platforms selling ads or selling your data. These are full of rage-bait and only attract the worst in humans.

                                moseschrute@lemmy.mlM This user is from outside of this forum
                                moseschrute@lemmy.mlM This user is from outside of this forum
                                [email protected]
                                wrote last edited by
                                #75

                                Reminder if you want this platform to continue to exist, you should donate to Lemmy. Devs, your instance, your favorite app, etc. If you can’t afford to donate, try and recruit a few of your friends to Lemmy.

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

                                  The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

                                  It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

                                  I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

                                  L This user is from outside of this forum
                                  L This user is from outside of this forum
                                  [email protected]
                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #76

                                  Social media is just a symptom of the larger problem which is the corporations prefering to build walled gardens so they can control users rather than the open protocols that defined the early internet. Back in the day, I used to call it "everything becoming facebook".

                                  Social media is fundamentally a moat - a wall built around a set of consumers to keep them away from competitors. Investors love moats. If you whisper as quietly as you possibly can to yourself "I found a company with a wide moat that no one is talking about yet" JP Morgan himself will literally burst through your wall like the Kool Aid Man. They love it because it avoids competition, and as much as competition is the whole point of capitalism, it's the last thing an actual capitalist wants to deal with.

                                  A big part of what made the early internet super valuable was the opposite of moats: open protocols. For example how GMail can send email to Yahoo or any other email provider. If Google had their way, that's not how email would work at all - you'd need a google account to both send and receive emails. That's why these companies have been trying to kill email for ages, trying to get people to use their own proprietary messaging systems instead, where you can only send to others with an account. Then they could capture you and keep you all to themselves.

                                  Which brings us to the fediverse. The fediverse is an attempt to return to open protocols rather than creating a moat around a group of users. In many ways it's like email - your email provider might cut off a server if it's just sending spam all day, and this is basically defederation. But otherwise nothing stops you from communicating with anyone, and that's how it should be.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  1
                                  • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

                                    The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

                                    It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

                                    I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

                                    S This user is from outside of this forum
                                    S This user is from outside of this forum
                                    [email protected]
                                    wrote last edited by
                                    #77

                                    Which Douglas Rushkoff book is this concept again? I've lost track.

                                    The internet keeps dying again and again. It started as a research project turned into a way to aid research. Then the sphere grew as nerds found a space to connect with other nerds. It was a community space where people knew each other. The only big source of trouble was each year, in September, when a new crop of kids gained access to the internet at their college. They had to be educated in the social structures and ethos of the culture they were stepping into.

                                    Then, in the early nineties, the spirit of the internet died, in the Eternal September, as ISPs encouraged non-nerds to enter the cyber world. The community was flooded with more new people than could ever be trained to follow the cultural standards that had been established, and so they simply overwhelmed the capacity of the society to maintain itself.

                                    Then those people began creating a new culture, a multiculture, with communities and sites forming around anyone with a bit of passion they wanted to share with the world wide web. People taught themselves web development just to share pictures of their families and poetry about their favorite trees.

                                    But then, the spirit of the internet died. Advertisers wanted to take advantage of the new space to which everyone seemed to be devoting so much attention. They started monetizing sites. Creating sites became less and less about sharing your passion, and more and more about generating ad revenue.

                                    And the internet persisted. Despite the disgust of the users, nothing seemed to stop the influx of capital into the community. And then came encryption, allowing people to even buy and sell things online. The internet died again, becoming a giant mall, a place you went to find stuff to buy rather than people to talk to.

                                    And then came social media. It took the idea loved by so many of the early pioneers of the internet, that everyone could have their own site, dedicated to whatever they loved most, and centralized it. Friendster, sixdegrees, MySpace, and so on. With this change, the spirit of the web died again, commercializing even the idea of your personal page, your digital representation of yourself.

                                    It has died. It will die again. Nothing can be relied upon.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    6
                                    • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

                                      The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

                                      It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

                                      I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

                                      C This user is from outside of this forum
                                      C This user is from outside of this forum
                                      [email protected]
                                      wrote last edited by [email protected]
                                      #78

                                      The old internet was just an intermediate stage between the standardised internet, and before the internet when you had to find a clear channel through the ionosphere. Congratulations, however old you are, you've lived long enough to be bitter that the world has changed.

                                      Now if we're talking about the specific way it's developed with a new generation of robber barons controlling everything, obviously few here will disagree.

                                      E 1 Reply Last reply
                                      1
                                      • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

                                        The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

                                        It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

                                        I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

                                        B This user is from outside of this forum
                                        B This user is from outside of this forum
                                        [email protected]
                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #79

                                        Not social media. Capitalism.

                                        The internet was ALWAYS social (e.g. telnet). It wasn’t ruined by people using technology to connect, it was ruined by capitalism finding new, insidious ways to monetize the human social drive.

                                        A W 2 Replies Last reply
                                        26
                                        • realcalliopa@lemmy.worldR [email protected]

                                          The emergence of social media has destroyed all the small communities to standardize communication and information.

                                          It's a bit of a digital version of rural exodus. And since 2017/2018, I've noticed that everything that, in my opinion, represented the internet has disappeared.

                                          I've known Lemmy for a few hours and I feel like I'm back in the early spirit of the internet.

                                          N This user is from outside of this forum
                                          N This user is from outside of this forum
                                          [email protected]
                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #80

                                          You really think you're the first one, much less the only one, to say that? Really?

                                          A 1 Reply Last reply
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